Minnesota Timberwolves Rumor: Wolves are at top of Russell’s list

The Minnesota Timberwolves are reportedly at the top of D’Angelo Russell‘s free agency list as the frenzy begins on Sunday evening.

We’ve known for some time that the Minnesota Timberwolves are interested in adding All-Star guard D’Angelo Russell to the fold.

What we haven’t been sure of is a) how they’ll clear the necessary cap space, and b) if the interest is mutual for Russell.

While we still don’t have the exact answer to the former, the latter has now been reported by Marc Stein of The New York Times.

Karl-Anthony Towns has apparently been on the recruiting trail and you can bet that the Wolves new front office is working in tandem with their young superstar big man to fill out the roster with players that can make the Wolves a perennial playoff team in the Western Conference.

The cap gymnastics have yet to commence, but it’s become apparent that Gersson Rosas must have something lined up. Follow the bouncing ball…

And now, we have the Stein tweet suggesting that Russell’s preference is Minnesota over L.A. Obviously the cap situation is the first thing that will need to be solved, and it’s looking more and more likely that the Nets are expecting to land two max-contract players and renouncing Russell’s rights, which would make him an unrestricted free agent.

The other reasons for Russell’s preference for the Wolves over the Lakers are likely tied to his close relationship with Towns, and the opportunity to be a second star. In Los Angeles, Russell would be the third option at best, and playing next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis wouldn’t necessarily be all sunshine and roses. Not to mention the rest of that team’s roster will likely be even thinner than Minnesota’s.

One other important note: the Wolves have hired Pablo Prigioni, who was a Nets player development coach last year and obviously worked closely with Russell. Also, Minnesota has hired David Vanterpool, who was a key behind-the-scenes piece when it came to the success that Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum had together in Portland over the last few years.

It sure seems as though things are pointing in the direction of things getting done. Which of course begs the question of what will happen — and happen quickly — to free the necessary cap space?

Stay tuned. Plenty is going to happen over the next few hours and into Monday morning…